Corey Johnson is lead from a courtroom at the Madison County Courthouse during his trial in November 1998 for his part in the notorious cell-phone murder case. (The Huntsville Times/Eric Schultz)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Corey Johnson, one of three men convicted in the notorious "cell phone murders" of 1996, was released from prison Monday.

Johnson, now 38, plead guilty to felony murders in one of the area's more heinous crimes in recent memory. He received a 15-year sentence that included the time he served after his arrest for the murder of four young people.

Two others were shot and survived in the house on U.S. 72 near the Huntsville city limits near midnight on Sept. 25, 1996.

Johnson, who by all accounts did not fire a weapon, was serving time at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer when he was released.

Joey Wilson, who was 19 at the time of the murders, and Nicholas Acklin, then 25, were convicted of capital murder in the case and are on death row at Holman Prison in Atmore.

Bryan Carter, 21; Michael Beaudette, 19; Johnny Couch, 18; and Lamar Hemphill, 21, were killed. Michelle Hayden, then 17, was shot in her face, elbow and abdomen. Ashley Rutherford, then 22, was shot in the back of the head and survived by pretending he was dead.

According to witness testimony at the trials, Wilson, Acklin and Johnson came to the ranch-style house on the night of Sept. 25, a week after Hemphill filed a report with the Madison County Sheriff's Department saying that his cellular phone had been stolen. Hemphill named Wilson as a suspect. Johnson had reportedly also stolen some marijuana from the house as well.

Eight people were inside the house the night of the murders, including Rutherford's aunt, Linda Williams, and Mike Skirchak. Williams was at the other end of the house from the room where the shootings happened, and Skirchak survived by running out a back door when the shooting started.

Before the murders, Acklin, Wilson and Johnson beat the victims, demanding to know who had signed a warrant for his arrest over a stolen cell phone. Wilson, however, was misinformed, then Madison County Sheriff Joe Whisante said at the time. No warrant had been issued.

It was the actions after the beatings that led to Johnson receiving a lesser charge than his cohorts. While he was originally charged with capital murder, that charge was later reduced to felony murder.

"Although Corey was involved in some of the assaults, all the people who lived said Corey went and got ice for the victims" for their wounds, said Derek Simpson, who defended Johnson along with his father, now-retired attorney Fred Simpson. Johnson also tried to convince Acklin and Wilson not to kill anyone.

Fred Simpson included the cell-phone murder case along with 12 other cases in his book, " Murder in the Heart of Dixie," said Derek Simpson. The case gained so much notoriety that "all you have to do is say 'cell-phone murders' and everybody knows what you are talking about," Simpson said.

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard said his office agreed to a plea agreement with Johnson, who was willing to testify against the two shooters. Broussard was an assistant district attorney when he prosecuted the case along with Ken Taylor, who has since retired.

"There was a clear difference between Nick Acklin and Joey Wilson and Corey Johnson," Broussard said. "Corey Johnson was pretty vocal in saying there was no need to kill." He tried to convince Acklin and Wilson the victims wouldn't call the police about the beatings.

Broussard and Taylor decided not to have Johnson testify, but did agree to let him plead guilty to felony murder, which means he was involved in the murders but did not go to the house for the purpose of killing anyone. He said the 15-year sentence Johnson received was appropriate for his role in the crimes.

"In my opinion, what he did that evening in light of the criminal justice system, that's a fair sentence," Broussard said. "He has done his time, and in our system, that is all there is to it."